


Life ain't all sunshine and rainbows

by buddy2021



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, M/M, Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:01:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 18,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29407341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buddy2021/pseuds/buddy2021
Summary: Basically another Solangelo post-blood of Olympus fanfiction because absolutely why notWritten with princess_tiana1 on wattpad
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Just what the doctor ordered

Nico POV:  
“You owe me three days in the infirmary, starting now.”  
Three days. I thought that would be alright. Who was I to argue anyway, I was weak and fragile from all the shadow travelling and skeletal warrior summoning that three days with Will Solace could be just exactly what the doctor ordered.  
I didn’t resist as he guided me to the infirmary and laid me down on the nearest bed. I was exhausted to the point of limitless fatigue and I struggled to keep my eyes open, but I managed. I followed his eyes as they travelled around my figure leaving me feeling almost self-conscious and ashamed of my scars from Tartarus. He pointed at a long slash mark across my right forearm and looked at me with pity in his eyes, his tears posing an almost impossible question. Why would you do this to yourself?  
He carefully lifted the hem of my shirt, his gaze growing cautious as he raised it higher. He made to disinfect the cuts on my stomach, the pain growing to a point where there was no deterrent except for the feeling of the warmth his hand spread when clasped in mine. He placed the bandages on my stomach carefully, making sure not to touch me unnecessarily or cause me any pain. This brought tears to my eyes. No one had watched over me with so much care since Bianca.  
After the bandages had been applied, Will suddenly bolted out of the room. My heart sank. I thought he cared for me, enough to stay by my side when I was in pain, anyway. This brought on feelings of self-contempt as I cursed myself for relying on the support of others to live my life. I was Nico Di Angelo and I always walked alone. With no one by my side. Surrounded by the dark thoughts that clouded my mind I slowly drifted to a tormented nightmare of restless slumber.  
A mess of torture surrounded me, a maze of monsters confronting me at every turn, only to find the most dangerous one at its centre. Myself.  
“Everyone in your life will leave, because you are not worth their love”,  
“You should do everyone a favour and disappear, even you will admit that everyone’s happier when you’re not around”,  
“No one loves you”.  
All these words circled me in a dark storm, sucking the all the happiness I had ever felt, stripping me of the small moments of joy that I hung on to so desperately. There was no worth to even attempting to defeat this monster, because as I had seen hundreds of times before, he always won. So I lay down and let the storm blow me away.  
Hey, I thought, maybe I’m right. Maybe the world would be better without me. I looked toward my sword, my trusted blade of stygian iron I had loved so dearly ever since I had forged it. I lifted it, like I had so many times before. But this time, the blade was pointing towards me.  
I heard screams as the blade inched closer to my heart and a final cry when it was yanked out of my hands and was replaced by the feeling of Will’s hand in mine once again. When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring directly at Will, his eyes locked on mine, an expression of horror on his face. He adjusted the bed so I was sitting up, and it was then I realised that I was surrounded by a horde of Apollo kids, armed with ambrosia and a literal ton of Mountain Dew. Will grabbed a bottle and held it to my lips. “Drink”. I pushed his hands away, in a vain attempt to retain my independence I had fought so hard to establish. The smallest of movements caused the wound brought on by my blade to rupture, until the flowers on my shirt were no longer baby blue, but an alarming shade of crimson. Will’s hands immediately flew to the pack of ambrosia situated next to my bedside and forced a piece down my throat, so urgently I didn’t even get to relish the taste. Will worked quickly, his movements swift, tearing apart my shirt to look at the wound, cleaning it and bandaging it. He grabbed my hand and began to tilt his head towards the sky, when his gaze suddenly shifted towards me as I was losing consciousness and felt the warm stream of blood travel down my chest. “Nico,” he whispered, “Nico” over and over again, I couldn’t respond, it hurt to move... Will’s grip on my hands tightened, “Nico, don’t leave me.”  
I ended up drifting into oblivion anyway. I had left Will, like he’d begged me not to. I’d disappointed him, just like everyone else. I was useless, worthless, undeserving of love. I was nothing.  
I woke to the sound of a girl’s voice, whispering my name. I knew her from somewhere, but who was she? It wasn’t a girlfriend, I’d never been interested in girls. It wasn’t a friends, I didn’t have any friends. That left family. Father- god of the dead. Sister- dead. Mum- dead. Half-sister – should be dead. That was it! It was my half-sister, Hazel. What was she doing here? “You’re supposed to be at Camp Jupiter,” I mumbled, my voice hoarse.  
“Really, Nico? Not even a friendly hello? I thought you would be glad to see me!”  
“I am, really. Just tired. And slightly injured.” I winced at the pain in my chest, though, thankfully, the wound didn’t start bleeding. Hazel looked over to the opposite side of the room where my sword lay, the tip sparsely coated in dried blood, my blood. Her eyes travelled from the sword to the bandage on my chest and when she made eye contact, this time I just nodded.   
Hazel’s golden eyes were brimming with concern, but she did not utter a word. She then smiled slyly and pulled out from behind her back a happy meal. I had to admit, the food did what it said on the tin, I was lovin’ it. It was all going perfectly, my hands smothered in grease and I had nearly finished the fries when William frickin’ Solace decided to make his rounds.


	2. Have you missed me, mio soldatino?

“NICO MIDDLE NAME DI ANGELO, are you eating a HAPPY MEAL in MY infirmary? FOR GODS’ SAKE EAT SOME FRUIT INSTEAD AND GET RID OF THAT GARBAGE!”  
“Sure, can I please have an apple?”  
Will calmed down instantly[D1] . “I didn’t know you like apples.”  
“I don’t. But an apple a day keeps the doctor away, right?” – with this I directed a small smile at Will who grabbed the happy meal and Hazel and threw them out of the room. He stormed to the fruit basket, and threw an apple at me. I missed the apple by miles which prompted Will to make the arduous journey to the other side of the room to deliver it to me. Will tutted at the salty grease that coated my hands and proceeded to feed me the apple.  
“Do you want me to chew it for you too?” he asked, grinning. I decided that didn’t deign a response, and instead told him, "Weapons in the infirmary should be cleaned. Isn’t the blood full of……bad stuff? Will, I expected better of you" The ghost of a smile played around my face, and I realised, with Will, like this, I felt… happy.  
“I had promised you three days in the infirmary,” Will told me as he fed me the last bit of the apple. “But seeing your condition, we’ll definitely have to keep you here a little while longer. And then after that, I’ll have to keep checking in on you, just to make sure you’re okay, you know.”  
I had expected my heart to sink at the news, I had expected that I would fly into a mad rage and destroy everything around me, I had expected that I, Nico Di Angelo, Ghost King, would not be hindered by a small injury, would not be willing to do as told. However, I only smiled, “That would be okay, I mean, just because I need to heal up properly. So I guess, I could, um, tolerate your presence a little longer.”  
“Great. Well, I’ll see you later. I’ve got a bunch of patients who need healing- lots of people were really badly hurt in the war.”  
I wanted to cry. Why? I had no clue. Maybe it was just because the one person who looked after me and made me feel… good… about myself was gone. Because I just wasn’t important enough to him, and that other people were more important to Will than me. Shut up, I told myself. Quit being selfish. Then, well, what more really is there to say? I just went back to sleep, back to the endless nightmare.  
Tartarus again. Or wait- was it Tartarus? I was standing on a cliff, facing the endless drop below. It led to a nearly imperceptible abyss, a soup of infinite darkness. Hello, Nico. A familiar voice snaked around my mind; I couldn’t hear it, nor find its source, but it was there anyway, burrowing into the corners of my head, unravelling all the work I had done to forget.  
Darling Nico, have you missed me? I’ve missed you so much. I’ve missed you more than you could guess, I thought, but remained silent.  
Tomorrow’s my birthday… it would be so lovely if you could join me.  
“I tried,” I whispered, my voice spilling over with the pain I had felt over the past years. “So many times.”  
Mio soldatino, there is a better way now. Take one step forward, and you’re with me, as you’ve wished for so long.  
I gulped. Looking down at the drop, I realised it would not kill me, instead it would lead me to Chaos herself, where I would be everything and nothing, where all matter came from and where all matter would go.  
I thought of Hazel, who had loved me so dearly, of Percy and Annabeth, who trusted me so much, and of Will. Of his steady hands which did no harm, of his smile lighting up the room, of his sparkling blue eyes which were now imprinted on my heart. I was definitely in love with Will Solace. It was an odd time for a confession like that, but near-death experiences did things like that to you.  
“No.”  
No? You really do not love me, do you?  
“I used to love you, I love you today, and I will love you forever, but no.” The talons on my mind squeezed harder, and I fell to the ground, as she said, Well, if not by choice, I shall have to drag you down with me.


	3. I could be broken with you

Will POV  
It crushed me to see Nico flailing in pain as he dived deeper into terror as he slept. Those moments when I would hear his screams haunted me at every turn; Tartarus had broken him, shattered his hope into shards, hacked away at his happiness. I wrenched with guilt every time a tear ran down his face or a shout escaped his lips. He convinced everyone around him that he was a headstrong spirit but it did not take anything more than a backward glance to reveal the vulnerable, innocent child that he still was. For an entire day, he drifted in and out of slumber, his pained cries tore me out of my seat, whether it be the middle of the day or night, to his bedside where I gripped onto his hand, and whispered consolation in his ear.  
I guess you could say that I had a slight crush on Nico Di Angelo. Ok, fine, maybe not a slight crush in comparison to full blown infatuation. I loved the way his eyes twinkled in the fleeting moments of his happiness, the way his hair would blow softly in the breeze as he walked, the way his ears turned pink when he was embarrassed. He was an angel. He was my angel.  
His eyes brimmed with tears as he let out a heartbreaking, anguished sob. Instinctively, I dashed to his side, perched on the bed beside him. Stroking his hair, I lightly shook him awake, away from the peril that his mind plummeted into. His eyes fluttered open and,as they met mine, the terror depicted in them only grew.  
“Will. Bianca. My sister. She-” he started, trembling violently with every word.  
“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here, right, I promise that I will never let anything or anyone touch you.”  
“Just-. Go away, you will never know what I’ve been through, just leave,” I released my grip on his shoulder and swept his hand up in mine, I made to speak, but he cut me off.  
“Will, I said GO AWAY. You don’t know what I have done, so just GO.” his tone grew with every word as did my anger.  
“Nico, I have been by your bedside for the past day, responding to your every need, all the time. You may not realise, but there are other patients in this infirmary too! Look, I may not have gone through EXACTLY what you did but all of us here have trauma. I have lost two of my brothers in the past year, I too fought in the Titan War and I was made head of my cabin when I was 13. Yeah, it sounds stupid, easy, but looking after so many of your grieving siblings, as well as trying to get over deaths yourself… it’s not simple. At least I didn’t run away.”  
Nico flinched at the last remark, and sat up but faced away from me. Why did it make me feel so bad to hurt Nico, the person who had caused me nothing but difficulty for the past few days? Yet my heart still ached as the tears streamed down his face.   
“You lost your siblings too?” Nico asked quietly, his tone softening.   
“Yeah, Michael and Lee,” I whispered. At some point I had also started crying, and now the tears travelled down my cheeks in a river of emotion.   
“Bianca.” He mumbled this so softly that it could barely be heard, like his voice was muffled by the pain behind that single word. He turned to face me, and silently sobbed. I reached out and wrapped my arms around his tiny frame, and to my surprise he didn’t pull away.


	4. The good Grace conundrum

WILL POV  
Early in the morning, I heard Kayla’s outside the door saying, “You can go in now,” with a slightly sly turn to her voice.  
“Thanks, Kayla,” I heard a New York accent say, one that I would recognise anywhere. The voice of Perseus Jackson. Shoot. Shoot. SHOOT.  
Frantically, I attempted to disentangle myself from Nico, which was completely futile because he was still fast asleep and clinging on to me. This was going to be fun.  
“Good morning Nico. Good morning- WILLIAM WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODS ARE YOU DOING?” I heard Percy say before backing away. Nico woke up and stared blearly at Percy. “Vaffanculo,” he murmured before going back to sleep, wrapping his arms around me tighter.  
“Skata,” I whispered, starting to panic as both Jason and my SISTER entered the room. “Nico, for gods’ sake WAKE UP.”  
Kayla raised an eyebrow at me. “Making visitors terrified first thing in the morning isn’t your style, Will.”  
With Nico finally pulling away, I could have a good look at the faces of his visitors. To put it lightly, Kayla’s delicate use of the word terrified was an understatement. Looking around at the multitude of demigods that surrounded (a small crowd had gathered after Percy’s outburst, a patient had even wheeled in his bed), I could not help but feel threatened and wished for Annabeth’s famous invisibility Yankees cap.  
When Nico took in the surroundings, as promised, his ears turned a violent shade of rosy pink, and I couldn’t help but erupt into fits of laughter. Percy eyed me suspiciously and proceeded to scream at me again.  
“IF YOU'RE DOING THIS TO MY INNOCENT CHILD NICO CAN YOU PLEASE AT LEAST HAVE THE GOOD GRACE NOT TO LAUGH ABOUT IT AFTERWARDS?”  
“The good Grace is over here Percy,” grinned Jason. “But guys, seriously, the legal age is 16.”  
Nico’s face turned a brighter pink than his ears. “We only slept together. NO- NO I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!” His last outburst was caused by a series of sniggers at his first sentence.  
At last, after what had felt like an age of mortification to me, Austin intervened, telling the crowd, “Okay guys, let’s leave and let these two sort things out.” he punctuated the end of his sentence with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Because, as far as I know they weren’t together yesterday, unless you’ve been hiding things from me.”  
Kayla stepped in again, ushering the crowd out, giving me a silent glare that said, talk to him, you idiot. The whole of camp knows and he doesn’t.  
When the mob had retreated, I looked at Nico, whose face was beet-red and determinedly looking away from me. “Hey,” I told him, quietly and gently, the voice I used for younger demigods who were afraid of getting treated. “It’s okay, this happens all the time.”  
“You mean, this happens with your other patients too?”  
“No! No, gods of Olympus no!”  
Nico peered up at me curiously, “Then why me?”  
I could answer that question in a million different ways. I tried to stay away from the I’m passionately in love with you route, though that was probably the truest to my feelings, and the I felt sorry for you route, because I didn’t think Nico would appreciate that. Kayla’s glare was imprinted in my head, just tell him, it seemed to tell me. It softened slightly and appeared to say, you’ll be fine, before going back to being snarky and adding an idiot on the end.  
“Well, Will, if you’re not going to answer my question, I guess I’ll tell you why I didn’t pull away” Nico’s voice startled me out of my confusion, and I waited, ready to take in every word.  
“I let you stay, because I want you to stay with me, always. I let you stay because ever since I've gotten to know you, my days no longer feel like nightmares. I let you stay because you're the most special person in my life, the person who doesn't just heal me physically, but emotionally. And I want to help you heal too, because even though we've all been through so much, we don't have to hide in the shadows any more. You're the sunshine in my dark life. I love you, Will.”  
I felt a shiver travel down my spine as I processed the words he had just said. He….told me he loved me. He had the courage, despite his broken life, despite the fact that he was crushed under the weight of his past, to tell me he loved me, a courage I never seemed to be able to find in words. Nico’s angelic face was full of worry, and he looked away, muttering, “Gods, that was stupid. I wish I could just die right now.”  
No. I couldn’t let him say things like that. I couldn’t let him believe I didn’t love him. I sent a prayer to my father, who would probably not answer, and took a deep breath.  
“Look around, look around, look at where you are, look at where you started. The fact that you’re alive is a miracle.” I immediately closed my mouth. Thanks a lot, Dad. Perfect way to profess your love. Through Hamilton lyrics.  
Nico looked at me quizzically for a second, before turning away.  
“You could have just said no, Will, you didn’t have to crush me with the lyrics of my favourite musical.”  
What did I do? Curse you, Dad! I tried to speak, murmur something, to let Nico know he was not alone, but I was deprived of words at that very moment. I silently screamed as he walked away, my pride plummeting and my self-hatred skyrocketing. In that moment, I had never felt more resentment towards myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HaMiLtOn


	5. One step closer

NICO POV

I picked up my coat and ran. Out of the infirmary, past the quizzical looks of all the Apollo kids, my vision blurring with tears. I kept running till I reached the woods, where I lay down under the shade of an oak tree and wept. I couldn't believe this. I felt so foolish, so embarrassed that he didn't love me back. How could anyone love me anyway? I didn't care, I wasn't going back.

I shadow-travelled to my cabin and lay there for what seemed like hours, until I saw the sun set outside my window, drowning the room in even more darkness. I felt trapped, suffocated by everything around me, the walls seemed to cave in and my chest seemed to burn, with fire as unquenchable as the Phlegethon. The mention of the fire sent my brain into a downward spiral, descending into indescribable chaos as it progressed. I was overwhelmed by the looming shadow of none other than William Solace. 

'I will never love you'

'No one is capable of loving you, you are undeserving of love'

'Who could ever learn to love a beast?' The words of the old fairytale, spoken by my mother, all those years ago, a tale truly as old as time. As true as can be. 

Time ticked away, mocking me as I lay there, basking in horror of rejection. It seemed like I finally understood true heartbreak, the subject of so many soulful ballads I had dismissed carelessly long ago. 

An abrupt knock at the door wrenched my mind away from the harrowing agony inflicted upon my mind and governed by the cruel hands of the Fates.

"Nico, I know you're in there, people are asking where you've been..." she sang, followed by peals of laughter, probably a modern pop culture reference. I rolled my eyes. 

"No, but seriously Nico, come out."

I decided to humour her, for the sole purpose of hoping to evade any more human interaction.

"I'm gay, Piper."

"No, idiot, come out to the campfire."

A small smile crept its way onto my face as I raised my voice even further to shout:

"CAMPFIRE, I'M GAY."

Eventually, Piper started pounding my door, gaining more force as time progressed. For fear of the structural integrity of my cabin, I opened the door, well aware I looked like the reincarnation of Medusa. Piper flinched, and clicked her fingers. I felt my hair fall into place and my clothes straighten out into a skull shirt and studded leather jacket, complete with black skinny jeans and black high tops. 

"That's better, " was all she uttered, before violently jerking my arm towards her and dragging me to the campfire. 

As we sat around the fire, I glanced at all the faces of my fellow campers, unconsciously scanning for the face I badly wanted to avoid and yet, wanted to see. It wasn't there. 

Chiron announced that tonight would be KARAOKE NIGHT. I sighed in exasperation and made to leave, until Piper's surprisingly strong arm anchored me down to my seat. I looked up at the makeshift stage the Hephaestus cabin had crafted in preparation for this event. All the events that followed flew past in a hazy blur, rendering me exhausted. I was about to leave, until I saw someone climb their way onto the stage.

Will Solace. He climbed up and spoke. The words that followed astounded me.

"I recently came across a person who expressed feelings for me. But I never had the courage to reply to him, because my own insecurities imprisoned me. This is for him. My angel, my life, my love."

The whole camp stared in awe as he began to sing. His voice melodious, every word heavy with emotion. 

Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave?

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?

But watching you stand alone  
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

I have died every day waiting for you

Darling, don't be afraid  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more

Darling, don't be afraid

I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still

Beauty in all he is  
I will be brave  
I will not let anything take away  
What's standing in front of me  
Every breath  
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

I have died every day waiting for you

Darling, don't be afraid

Darling, don't be afraid

I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you

Time has brought your heart to me  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more

One step closer

One step closer

I have died every day waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more

Darling don't be afraid

I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you

Time has brought your heart to me  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more

Our eyes met over the crowd, and the cheers around me seemed to dull as I looked at him. His gaze softened as he watched me, mouthing the simple word 'Angel'.


	6. You're my hero, my saviour

NICO POV

I grabbed his hand and pulled him off the stage, in lieu of Chiron's next announcement. I dragged him to the beach, as far out of earshot of others as possible. I made to speak, but Will cut me off, grabbing my shoulders and staring deeply into my eyes.

"Nico, I-I-I really, really like you. I couldn't find the courage to open up to you, like you so bravely did. But, that doesn't change the way I feel about you. I can't fight, people say that I'm not a proper demigod. And you know, they're kind of right. I haven't done heroic things, I'm not a saviour, I don't deserve you, but I-"

"Will. It's okay. There are hundreds of demigods here that would not be alive if not for you. You may not be a Percy or Jason, they're not worth our attention anyway (they already get way too much), but you're my hero. You saved me, remember. You pulled that blade out of my chest, and that's enough for me. You are my saviour. Thank you, Will, for being you."

He took my hand and began to lean closer. Our faces were centimetres apart until Will jerked away with a sudden yelp of fear. My heart sank. He didn't truly love me. I was getting ready to walk away, away from it all, when Will cried:

"Nico, don't go," he started, but I waved his comment away with shake of my head. I couldn't keep setting myself up for heartbreak.

"Nico, it's a fricking snake, don't leave, this thing will kill me!"

Wait.

I whirled around, hands instinctively going to my waist, to grab my sword, realising it was still in the infirmary, ready to kill whichever monster had chosen to grace us with its presence today. I have to say, I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the severity of the danger that lay before us.

"It's a grass-snake, Will. A baby one at that. "

Will stared at it a second, pure terror mirrored in his eyes. This was followed by a blood-curdling scream.

I raised my eyebrows sarcastically. In reality, it was probably one of the cutest sights ever to be witnessed, but there was no possibility in Tartarus that I would let him know that.

"Yes, Nico. We've already established that I'm the weak one in this relationship, now please just kill the fricking snake!"

I gently guided the snake into my arms and stroked it as it hissed amicably. I then noticed silver lettering on the right side of its underbelly.

"Hermes Express?" I read.

The terror melted off Will's face instantly and was replaced by a much more dangerous emotion, I hoped never to be the subject of.

"CECIL HOROWITZ," he screamed, "Wherever you are, you are dead to me. Do you hear me, DEAD!"

In his anger, he grabbed the snake from my hands and hurled it towards the bushes. We heard scrambling and hushed voices, including the extremely repetitive "GET THIS THING OFF ME CECIL" from Lou Ellen. "TORTURING THEM WASN'T HALF AS FUN OF A DATE IDEA AS YOU SUGGESTED!" I heard her say.

I looked at Will's face once I was sure they had left, and was glad to see the usual composure had been regained.

"Crazy night, huh?" he said.

I wrapped my hands around his waist. "Come here, idiot."

I lay my head against his chest and listened silently to the beat of his heart. We swayed in the light breeze, dancing to the melody of our intertwined souls, to the melody of our choosing, because nothing could force us to be who we were not. Not ever again. He placed one hand on my shoulder , tilted my face to meet his and he kissed me. Soft and almost sweet, winding his arms around my neck, his fingers sliding into my hair. My foot caught his, our knees buckling, sending us both to the floor, burying our hair in sand as we held each other.

Will brought his hands to my face, his fingers brushing tenderly against my cheek.

"Beautiful," he whispered.

Our lips crashed together in a flurry of passion, my hands making their way to his chest, feeling the smooth muscle contract beneath my fingertips. I lost sense of all time and place, until he was the only thing I could fathom, his heart-capturing smile, his azure eyes, his-

"WILLIAM WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODS ARE YOU DOING?"

Percy's voice rang out across the beach.

Will smiled against my lips. "Boy, we cannot catch a break, can we?"

We broke apart and I self consciously slid my hands from underneath Will's shirt, blushing at Percy's pointed gaze.

I turned around, sat up, and caught a glance at Percy and Annabeth's dishevelled state.

"Or should I ask you what YOU have been doing?" I retorted, smiling feverishly.

"Annabeth?" Percy began, "What's he doing with his face?"

"I think he's......smiling?" she replied, confusedly.

They glared at me, then shifted their gaze to Will.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO NICO?" they screamed in unison, running to attack Will and smother him in a hug.

Will's radiant face creased with confusion and then joy, as he was embraced by the couple. Percy, being the loyal friend we all knew him to be, muttered into Will's ear.

"I know he loves you but if you even harm one hair on his head, you are done, Solace. Is that clear?"

I heard Will gulp in fear as Percy broke away from the hug and guided Annabeth to the entrance of the camp.

"Have fun you guys," she said. "And use protection!"

I smiled. I turned to Will, who was blushing profusely, and burst out laughing. I could not have been happier than I was in that moment. We fell back on the sand once more and gazed at the stars. I silently stared at the lucid night sky and reminisced of what used to be. Who I used to be. Who we left behind.

"Bob says hello."


	7. Father, how nice of you to drop in

WILL POV

"You know, Nico, I can see you smirking over there, and I do NOT appreciate it. I hate this about myself."

He pinched my cheeks and giggled. "I think it's extremely cute that you glow. It's subtle, a warm golden light, like you've swallowed sunlight. Will Solace: my portable Sunshine. Wait, how come I've never seen you glow before?"

"Well, it's a blessing and a curse really, but when I feel happy, really, really happy, elated, almost, I may......start glowing?"

Nico's face lit up as he came to a sudden epiphany. 

"Will, I got a paper cut," he showed me the miniscule cut on his fingertip. I gasped, instinctively grabbing his hand and tried to get a closer look before he yanked his hand out of mine and placed it on my hair, which was also conveniently glowing.

"Flower gleam and glow..." he sang, from what I suspected to be the only Disney movie he had succumbed to watching, his fingers danced in my hair as he sang, "Let your power shine..."

"Okay, Neeks, that's enough," I laughed, cutting his singing short, much to his and my dismay, wrenching his hands out of my hair, missing the feeling instantly. The light dimmed immediately, and Nico consequently grinned.

"New outfit?" I teased, as we left the beach and made our way back to the cabins. Now it was my turn to smirk. 

He shifted uncomfortably. "It's horrible isn't it? I told Piper it was too much." Immediately rendered guilty by his look, I hurried to assure him of the fact that he looked breath-taking. 

"Well I think it looks good, great, even. If the 'I will devour your soul' look your giving me doesn't make it obvious you're a son of Hades, dressing like you're a rock star attending a funeral certainly will." At this Nico rolled his eyes and began to turn away and I internally kicked myself. "But the black jeans and shoes looks good with your eyes. Not that your eyes didn't look good in the first place. Your eyes look great actually" And as I said this he met my gaze and I gulped. "Yeah I've always thought that you have nice eyes. They're like polished amber in the first rays of dawn. Actually they are a million hues really. I could get lost in them..." I could feel my face burn up, and I cringed at how stupidly cheesy I was being, yet once I summoned up the courage to look at him I saw that he was blushing too. "Ugh, shut up you flirt," he mumbled as he turned away again, and I couldn't help but feel slightly satisfied. 

We flicked on the lights in his darkened cabin, illuminating the room in a green hue. I flinched as the posters on the walls stared fixatedly at me, following me around the room as I walked towards Nico, wrapping my arms around his tiny frame. 

But, suddenly it wasn't just the two of us in the cabin. My jaw dropped as the form of Lord Hades materialised in the room. "Hello, Father," Nico muttered, "How nice of you to drop in."

"Solace. Sit." He pointed towards a chair; I stumbled towards it and almost fell off trying to sit on it, in the stupor induced by his Father appearing in front of me. 

"Good Evening, L-L-Lord H-Hades," I stuttered, attempting to repress my slight Southern drawl. Nico couldn't help but release a snort of laughter, and my face turned redder than it already was. Hades, too, looked at me slightly amused.

"So, Solace, I understand you have feelings, feelings towards my son." With this he pointed towards Nico with a dramatic flourish.

He circled the chair, growing closer to me, eyeing me with soul-shriveling contempt and fury. "I know about your little stunt on the beach, Mr Solace."

"Wha-, HOW?" Nico interjected, his ears turning an alarming shade of magenta.

"Son, don't overreact, I know that I make being a god look thrilling, but we do get bored, you know, so I had Hephaestus whip up a little surveillance system so I can see what you're up to......you know, just for fun."

It was then that Nico turned his head towards his father, and steam could practically be seen flying out of his nostrils, yet he said nothing. Having known Nico, for some time, this look meant certain danger. 'Tread carefully, Lord Hades,' I thought, as Nico glared at him. 

But he seemed to have no intentions of doing so. "See for yourselves," he cried, conjuring a pixelated video that dissipated into that moment which I had shared minutes ago with Nico. 

We both turned our heads away in embarrassment as we watched ourselves on the screen. Thinking at the time, the kiss we shared was romantic and passionate, it astonished me to see how foolish we looked, stumbling to the floor, lost in each other. Hades stifled a giggle, as we fell to the floor, and erupted into peals of laughter as Percy made his grand entrance. 

Nico's embarrassment switched to anger in less than a second. "Why." he demanded. "WHY. You have NO RIGHT, NO RIGHT, to be shadowing me , to be WATCHING ALL OF THIS, and then LAUGHING ABOUT IT AFTERWARDS." Nico's tone quietened, though it was none the less deadly. "Just because you're a god, just because you're bored, just because you're my father and think you can protect me, does not give you any entitlement to setting up a system to STALK me. Even though you're my father, you have done nothing for me, NOTHING. I have the right, to date who I want, without you coming and screwing EVERYTHING up, ok? I really, really like Will, and if you cared about me one bit, you would appreciate that. That kiss on the beach was magical, whatever you may think, and I have never felt happier than I did in that moment, so please, Father, for gods' sake, DO NOT RUIN IT."

He paused, and solemnly continued.

"You know, for a while, I thought you were different, that you were better than the other gods who lived on human embarrassment and tragedy." Nico met his father's eyes, then turned away.

"I was wrong."

"I have done nothing for you?" Hades asked, just as quietly as Nico, the power reverberating through his voice, reminding us that he was a god, the he was one of the Big Three, that he could take any of us to the Underworld right now and send us falling into Tartarus with a click of his fingers. "You seem to have forgotten you would have died at 10 if it wasn't for me," Hades ventured. I had no idea what he was talking about, but Nico clearly did, and he looked unimpressed. 

"Ma died, it doesn't count."

"Your powers?" Hades asked, not willing to back away from the challenge. 

"Genetics. It's not anything to do with me if you decided you wanted to have kids with my mother."

"Hazel doesn't have those powers."

"She's the daughter of your Roman self and Marie Levesque, doesn't count."

"I went to the Battle of Manhattan on your whim."

"It wasn't my whim, it was an obligation that you needed my pleading to do, since you didn't care about anyone else but your kingdom."

"I AM A GOD," Hades roared.

"Oh yes, of course," Nico drawled, his Italian accent emerging. "My father, who art in the Underworld, unhallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Tartarus." His tone ventured into sarcasm as he continued the Catholic prayer. "Give us today our daily bread, and forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into goodness, but deliver us to your satanic realm. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever."

" I am Nico Di Angelo, and I will not be afraid of you. I have feared you all my life, the man who abandoned me, but have I realised you are nothing more than a coward, a coward who fled," Nico assured himself, growing louder with every word, strength resonating in his speech, as authoritative and commanding as his father. 

I stared in awe as he spoke, the powerful figure of Lord Hades reflected in Nico's every action. 

"You're right," Hades murmured, his tone growing soft, "You're right. I left you, Bee, and Maria, alone. I haven't been the father expected of me, and there are no excuses for that. But I love you, Nico. You are my son, whether you like it or not, and it would be my honour to be a part of your life, as you grow. Let me be the father you need, know that I'm here, at least, now I am."

"Not good enough," Nico replied.


	8. History has its eyes on you

WILL POV

"Not good enough?" Hades repeated, suppressing the anger in his voice, reducing his tone to a dramatic whisper, "Not good enough?"

I gripped Nico's hand, as he moved towards his father. 

"I need you to apologise to Will," he uttered calmly. "You had no right to interfere in his affairs, because, may I remind you, you are not his father. You had no right to come barging in here, demanding he follow your every command, or any command for that matter."

He squeezed my hand harder, as he turned to me. "I'm so sorry, Will. Sorry I-I'm helpless, you should go, I can't put you through this, okay? I can't get through a conversation with my father, without erupting. You deserve someone so much better than me, you're perfect, and I-I'm broken."

I let go of his hand, and brought my hands to his face, tucking stray strands of hair behind his ears, as they fell into his eyes. I brought my forehead to rest on his, until our noses touched. 

"You're not getting rid of me that easy, Di Angelo."

Our lips connected once again, as he wrapped his arms around my waist, diminishing every millimeter of space between us, pulling me closer, the pair of us dazed with emotion. I was extremely aware at this point, I had started glowing again, but I didn't care. I was lost in Nico, his soft hair, his eyes, shimmering with the glow of a thousand moons, his hands wrapped around me, never letting go. I felt his lips curve upwards in a small smile, and I couldn't help but glow even brighter.

This beautifully peaceful moment was interrupted by the sharp cough of Lord Hades. Snapping back to reality, we spun to face Lord Hades, theatrically pointing at his wrist and yawning, causing the both of us to smile sheepishly at each other, before turning to him, deadly serious, never letting go of one another.

"Will," Hades began, "I am sorry, terribly sorry. All I was trying to do was protect my son, because the truth is, I can't take any more heartbreak. Will, I am forever grateful to you, for helping my son find his happiness once again, so, thank you."

"But let the record show that I have let you know that if you hurt Nico," Hades began, narrowing his eyes further. Not another one of these talks- I was getting fed up of them. 

"If I hurt Nico he could kill me himself," I interrupted. "Possibly with a variety of weapons. He doesn't really need you to protect him." Hades' ears turned a pale shade of baby pink. Like father like son, I thought. It was only then I realised the severity of what I had just said. Hades could smite me for disrespecting him, this could be my final moment, my legacy reduced to a burn on the floor of the Hades cabin. 

Fortunately, Hades' lip curled into a small smile, and he looked at Nico and me with grudging respect, "I suppose so," Hades inclined his head towards me. "Well, I'll leave you two be," Hades announced, swirling his cape.

"Finally," Nico muttered.

"Also, Solace, you needn't have worried about your legacy becoming a scorch mark, or whatever you were thinking." My eyes widened. How did he know? Wait. Did he have access to my other thoughts too? Let's hope not. 

"History has its eyes on you."

The Lord of the dead winked at me, then disappeared.


	9. An Apple a day

NICO POV

Will crashed onto my bed, when he was assured of the fact that my father had left. He buried his face in the pillow and screamed into it, while simultaneously thumping his hands and feet into the mattress. I lay beside him, burying my head into his shoulder and I couldn't help but laugh into the folds of his shirt. He flipped to face me, propped on his elbow.

"Something funny?"

"I just, really, really, like you, and can't seem to find the reason you put up with me, especially after the literal hell Hades just put you through."

"Well, I do, and that's all you need to know, okay? Now get some sleep, baby."

"Baby?" I asked. His face grew serious, his mouth forming a sullen line across his face. 

"Yes. Because you are a baby," his voice childish, crooning, his mouth breaking into a dangerously heart-stopping smile. "A baby angel. My teeny-weeny widdle baby angel."

He wrapped his arms around my head, obscuring my vision, resting his chin on my hair, tracing circles on my forehead with his finger. I tolerated this for a while, partly because I loved the feeling of his arms wrapped around me, the way he smelt of coffee and sunshine, but eventually, it was getting harder to breathe.

"Will, what in the name of Tartarus are you doing?" I asked, growing more and more confused. 

"Appreciating the little things in life."

"Baby, how much coffee have you had today?"

"Six, seven cups? Why?"

"I have a sinking feeling that caffeine is not the only narcotic that has plagued your system today."

"You know, you're right, my tiny amico." He looked at me, a playful smile on his lips. After realising that I had been staring at his lips for the entirety of two minutes, I blushed and asked why. Noticing my stares, he smirked, and replied:

"Because, I am undescribably high, on a tiny something I like to call NICOtine."

Damn, Solace. How was he so good at this?

I stood up and walked towards the basket of fruit at the other end of the cabin. I was pretty sure they hadn't been there when I was at Camp a few years back, but something told me Solace had made it mandatory to have one everywhere. 

I grabbed the shiniest, roundest green apple, perched on top of the pile of fruit, and directing my gaze at Will, obnoxiously bit off a massive chunk of the apple, never breaking eye contact; in hindsight, slightly more than I could chew. Will stared at me, then asked, "Can I have a bite, or have you formed a bond too precious to part with your apple over there?"

I tried to reply snarkily, but the mouthful of apple I had previously taken was still being chewed and all I could manage was an attitude-heavy rendition of "mhmmmhhhfgvhjfen wfebhjwfk, tmedsvnklij."

Will's eruption of laughter made me angry enough to pick up another apple, not half as fine as the one I had, and lob (is that what they kids say these days?) it at him. His terribly poor reflexes, surprising since he was a medic, caused the apple to hit him in the side and bounce right off onto the floor. I grabbed another, and another, throwing them at him until he caught one, shocked at the number of apples the fruit bowl contained (I suspected a Demeter demigod tampered with it). 

By the end of this whole charade, Will had been reduced to a lump on the floor, gripping the solitary apple he had managed to catch, crying, "Please don't kill me, I thought you liked me...?" 

Glancing at the dozens of apples that surrounded us, I crashed onto the bed helplessly, causing slight pressure on the gauze strapped to my chest, making me wince slightly. It was then that I realised I hadn't been to the infirmary for treatment all day, and had just run out, carelessly. Thankfully, Will picked up on this slight movement, and grasping my shoulders, pinned me to the mattress as he viewed the wound on my chest and proceeded to remove the bandage. 

"Wow, Neeks, that wound is significantly healed, I can take the bandage off now. I guess love is really the best medicine," he punctuated this sentence with a wink, leaning in to teasingly brush noses, but pull away before I could kiss him.

All that was left of that incident was a singular slash mark, and horrifying memories. Shaking those thoughts aside, I rested my head in Will's lap, while he combed his fingers through my hair, and kissed my cheek. 

"Good night, Will," I said, guiding him to the door, anxious for him to stay, yet scared of the consequences of that. 

"Good night, angel," he replied, dipping his head to meet mine in a loving, perfect kiss, before plunging into the night, lighting his own path through the darkness. 

I sighed , collapsing onto the bed. Today had been a long day, but I could safely say, the best one. For once, sleep found me, and for once, just for tonight, Hypnos decided to bless me with terror-free slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did say that updates would be erratic ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	10. Mr D, are you giving me THE TALK?

NICO POV

I woke up the next morning to find my cabin flooded with light, which unfortunately was not compatible with the limited sleep I had received, thanks to the great apple battle of last night. Speaking of apples, I woke to discover my arms wrapped tightly around three green apples, not unlike the ones catapulted around the room the night before. Realising I could not tolerate the day with such little sleep, I fell back into restful slumber, cuddling my apples as I drifted off once again. 

Unfortunately, my restfulness was short-lived. I woke once again, to banging on my cabin door. Not giving a damn about the state of my cabin, just growing wearily annoyed at the loud noise, I mumbled something along the lines of "Come in...", before burying my face in the pillow, knowing full well I wouldn't outlive the shame induced by the following moments. 

"Psst, Nico," I heard Annabeth's voice; after I groggily opened my eyes, she followed this by whispering "Sorry in advance."

At this point, I was still too drowsy to fathom actual words, so I shrugged and murmured. I only truly understood the complex danger of the potential that lay before me when Annabeth screamed, "GUYS GET IN HERE, " to pretty much the entire camp, loud enough to burst the eardrums of people within 5 miles of her, let alone mere centimetres. 

Before I had time to drop the apples I was cuddling so ferociously, the entire camp had congregated before me, cameras in hand, the bright orange of their shirts blinding me, a horde of alligators, ready to snap at my pain with their flashy demonic machines. I pulled my duvet over my head, and did the only thing I knew how to do. Stumble blindly through the next few moments and hope for the best. 

Their laughter surrounded me in a storm of ridicule, anger rising within me. I did my best to suppress it, reminding myself of Will, how he made me feel, how he rescued me. 

I delivered a single statement to the apparent crowd, still classily cowering underneath my blanket. In a muffled, yet deadly tone, I said, "I appreciate the fact that you may find this amusing and if I had enough sleep, I probably would too, but for now, you all have five seconds to get the hell out." Realising that my sword was still in the infirmary where I had regrettably left it, I blindly reached out from underneath the blanket to grab the sharpest object I could find. My hands sprawled around the table until they landed on a pencil. Wielding this pencil in the most threatening way possible, I repeated in a lower tone, "Get out."

When I heard the multitude footsteps subside, I heard a singular heavy set of footsteps, that I knew only too well. Oh no. I carefully peeped out from behind the blanket to see the last person I wanted to see at that moment. The camp activities director. The Olympian god. Mr D.

"Nico, care to explain the apparent orchard surrounding me at the minute, and the apples you have nestled so cosily into your arms? Of course I would have preferred grapes but you obviously have formed some form of strong emotional attachment to your fruit over there, so I may just let this utter blasphemy slide."

I hurriedly bolted up, and furiously started making the bed, yanking the apples from under the covers, conscious of Mr D's eyes burning holes into the back of my head as he watched me fling the fruit across the room. When the room was......presentable, in the least, I turned to face Mr D, panting heavily, who was glaring at me, unimpressed.

"Sir-I-I can explain, you see me and-, well I was just- well I was just a bit frustrated, and the apples were the only thing on the desk, I just-"

"Nico, I know for a fact that you were not alone last night, I saw you and Wilbur Solstice sneak off after he sang you that sickeningly soulful ballad. Nico, out of all the delinquents surrounding me in this demigod daycare center, you are the one that annoys me the least, so I feel it my responsibility to impart upon you the knowledge that is required to have a healthy functioning relationship."

I grabbed the desk chair and sat down. I wasn't sure as to what was about to happen, but it was greatly frightening nonetheless.

"You see, Nico, when two people like each other, they think about engaging in a certain form of physical relationship. However, it is extremely important for me to impart this knowledge to you as a lot has changed over the past 70 years, Nico. For example when engaging in intimate relations with your partner it is important to be careful, which is why it is vital to use-"

Wait. Was the Olympian god, Dionysus, seriously giving me the talk?

"Mr D, I appreciate-"

His eyes flared with purple fire as he turned his gaze towards me, compelling me to sit back down on my seat, my lips, for all intents and purposes, sealed. He himself perched on the bed, his face distorting in horror as he realised he had sat upon the very apples I had been flinging around the room mere seconds ago. He bolted upright, and came to sit on a small chair scattered around the room.

"Nico, Nico, Nico. I am not going to berate or judge you, because you are, in fact over 80 years old and perfectly capable of handling yourself," his tone grew soft, a shockingly uncharacteristic behaviour associated with his personality, "Hephaestus TV accounted for a certain part of the night (this season is already better than Peterson Jamaica's a couple of years ago) but I would like to be informed of the events following that and the abundance of apples, because that is a rather bizarre (what do you youngsters call it?) fetish - to have."

My ears grew a scary shade of bright pink and my eyes widened, as I realised the assumption Mr D had made about the events of last night.

"No-sir, no you see umm, well me and Will, we, well, came back here, and then, well Father came and we kind of fought, and after he was gone me and Will kind of started fooling around, no, NOT like that but just being stupid and I took a bite of an apple because you know the phrase 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away', right? No? Okay...So I was just having some fun and then I may have started throwing the apples at Will, just to have a laugh, until he caught one. It has nothing to do with any sort of fetish. NONE AT ALL. Then Will, well he kis-, no, he went to his cabin and I woke up to find myself gripping three apples. That's all that happened. THAT'S IT. I promise, nothing else."

Mr D slowly rose from his chair and narrowed his stare, so he was looking directly into my eyes, never breaking contact for a second.

"Mr Solstice is a good kid, I mean he's not Pierre Jonas or Jerome Grease, I love him already! I can't say I approve of what you're doing, in my eyes you are still too young, but I won't go as far as forbidding you, I myself didn't start dating till I was 300 years old. Now, as per the reason I came here. You broke the curfew yesterday night along with Wilbur so you are both sentenced to stable cleaning duty. Don't make me regret the fact I put you two together."

With that, he winked, and disappeared. What was with all the winking lately?


	11. Feed the boy. Feed him food.

WILL POV

Stable duty stank. Literally and figuratively. As I was Head Healer, I generally managed to elude duties like this, but this time, it was unescapable. At least I could share my torture with Nico. It had occurred to me recently how malnourished he had become, and I made a mental note to myself. FEED THE BOY. FEED HIM FOOD. 

At mess later that night, I noticed him sitting alone once again, like he had for the entirety of his time at Camp. I grinned, and slipped a piece of paper over to the Hades table. Summon some zombies or something. Then we can tell Chiron you have a loneliness issue and you can sit at the Apollo table. With me ;)

Nico passed me the piece of paper back, with something else written on the back, in elegant cursive writing. Oh, but I thought I wasn't allowed to do any "Underworld-y stuff?" ;)

I sigh. He was playing hardball. Huh. Time to kick things up a notch. 

Well, you have permission from your doctor. Baby ;)

A blush crept up Nico's face until he was practically as pink as a radish. He made a gesture at me that consisted primarily of the use of his middle finger. I smiled. For a few minutes I was convinced that Nico was going to stay put, but a small suspicious glance from Chiron tipped him off. I tried to contain my laughter as I felt the ground crack beneath my feet, and from it emerge a skeleton kitten. The entire hall burst into peals of uncontrollable giggles, and as it made its way onto his head latching onto his hair, I fought the urge to scream, "Hands off kitty, that's mine, you hear me, MINE."

Surrounded by raucous laughter at this point, I heard Nico mutter, "I was aiming for a tiger."

Chiron, slightly amused by this outburst, grunted and eventually sat up, and trotted towards me. "Solace, I wasn't born yesterday, in fact I was born far earlier than yesterday." I shrinked underneath my shirt, wanting to disappear, rather than endure further punishment. I wasn't sure I could endure stable-cleaning duty again.

"Mr Di Angelo may sit with you. It's plainly obvious you two are inseparable."

I thanked him and made my way over to his table, conscious of the entire camp's eyes following me around the pavilion. It was then that I realised there was no plate in front of Nico, simply a glass of water, no, blue coke? I grabbed the glass, took a small sip, pulled an overly dramatic face and willed it to change to water. 

"Seriously Solace, taking this away from me too?"

"Oh you'll thank me, Di Angelo, believe me, you'll thank me."

"You are gonna be the death of me one day."

I brought my head to rest on his, our noses touching. The campers around me seemed to melt away, until it was only him and me. Will and Nico. I placed his hand against mine, and our fingers interlocked; like pieces of a puzzle, made to be together. He gazed into my eyes, lovingly, hopefully, almost, smiling ever so slightly. I brought my other hand to rest against his cheek and tilted my face towards his, kissing him. To my surprise, he kissed back, softly, gently, his fingers tracing the length of my back. When we finally broke apart, the entire congregation of the mess hall cheered, followed by wolf whistles, from which I can only assume came from Percy and Jason. With his face cupped in my palms, our noses still touching, our eyes still hooked on one another's, I whispered, "Nice to be appreciated."

"You're such a dork, Solace."

"Guilty as charged. That I am, a dork of the highest standard. From now I shall be known to you as Dr Dork."

"Are you always such an insatiable flirt, William?"

"Only for you, baby."

I leaned in once again, once again rendered unaware of those around us. Thankfully, someone had the sense to scream, "Get a room guys," followed by wolf whistles, which made us both crack up. 

When we finally turned to our food, well my food. I ran to grab a plate for Nico, filling it up with spaghetti. 

"Bold of you to assume that all Italians like spaghetti?" he quipped, glaring at me.

"Oh- s-sorry, should I get you something else?"

"Just....shut up. I'm trying to eat my spaghetti over here."

By the end of the meal, I had pleaded Nico countless times to eat just a bit more. Every time I looked at his tiny frame, I felt the urge to feed him, compulsively. He was not healthy, not in the slightest, and that scared the living the daylight out of me. I couldn't lose him. When I was finally satisfied with the amount he had eaten, there was spaghetti sauce all over his face. He looked like he hadn't picked up a knife and fork for a century. I heard a loud meow from behind me, and saw the skeleton cat, from a few minutes ago. 

"Nico, please put away your pet," Chiron's voice boomed.

"Tell Bob, the stars say hello," with this he opened up the ground once more and let the kitten slip back into the underworld.

Austin started piling marshmallows onto his plate. "What are you doing?" I asked incredulously.Nico's eyebrows raised higher than I thought was possible. "I thought the Apollo cabin would be healthier."Austin brushed away Nico's comment. "I'm going to try and fit 10 marshmallows into my mouth," he declared."You're a hazard to society," I muttered, putting my face in my hands.Nico grinned, unexpected and sly, "And a coward. Do 15."The rest of the table erupted into cheers (again- how much could these kids cheer?). 

"Will," Nico called, having crammed fifteen marshmallows in his mouth, he blew me a kiss, which resulted in at least five of the marshmallows flying out of his mouth and into my face, followed by another five when he burst out laughing. Something had to be done.

You're lucky you're cute, baby. Okay," I started, "I'm breaking my rule. Pass me the bowl."

I managed to stuff 16 marshmallows into my mouth, after Nico helped by jamming them in my cheeks.

"That's it. Competition's over. Will Solace for the win ya losers!"

After we had emptied our mouths of marshmallows, which Nico had bolted, I kissed him lightly, relishing the taste of sugar. I then realised, I would anything for him. Anything. Even break my no sweets rule.

Nico then belched, colossally, ruining my moment of self-actualization, and filling the air with the rancid smell of digested spaghetti. The table followed by erupting into giggles, causing Nico to grin and bow.

Nico fit in with us, as if he were family already.


	12. Meet the parent. Gone wrong.

WILL POV

On the 23rd of August, it was going to be my birthday, and my mom invited me over for the weekend before , even if it was just for a short stay. I had asked Nico if he wanted to come too, and he had, somewhat hesitantly, agreed. "It might be nice to have a parental figure in my life."

I flinched. "Mom may not be the best parental figure in the world. She- she doesn't exactly know we're together," I ventured, hoping Nico would understand what I meant. 

Nico shrugged, "We tell her then." He had become much more open about his sexuality, but this wouldn't be the way to go with my mother. 

"No. I haven't told her, because she'd kill me if she found out."

Nico's mouth formed a small "o", and then asked, "So to her, we're just friends?"

I nodded. 

I had already received permission from Chiron to visit my mom with Nico, and I was sure that Nico was in a stable enough condition to shadow travel us there. Chiron looked at the two of us with mild concern on his face, and said, "Remember, boys, if you need to come home early, just do it." I noted how Chiron referred to Camp Half Blood as home, rather than where I was about to go, and I supposed he was right. 

Nico took a deep breath, and turned us into shadow. It was my first time shadow travelling, and it was terrible. That's it. I'm not saying any more. "You have a very girly scream," Nico commented idly, completely unrelated to the situation.

We finally arrived, down the street from my mother's house. I raised an eyebrow at Nico. "Hey, I'm a work in progress, ok?" he smiled. 

We walked to my house, hand in hand, glancing at an elderly couple, a man and a woman, who tutted and shook their heads at us. We smirked at each other before stopping in our tracks, dropping our luggage, and I leant in and kissed Nico, one of my eyes fixed on the disgusted couple. When we broke apart, the man spat, "You are committing a sin, God will punish you. Get that straight, fairies."

I could sense Nico was about to explode, so I grabbed his hand once again and brushed the inside of his thumb webbing with my finger, and he calmed down instantly. It surprisingly worked with a lot of my patients. He smiled coyly at the couple, dangerously almost. "Thank you for your input sir. I am pleased to inform you that I will be getting nothing straight, because I, in fact, am as straight as a rainbow. And for all I care, you can take your comment and shove it where the sun don't shine," he drawled sarcastically. 

"Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you, you homo," with this, he pulled his partner away from us, not before spitting on the roadside in front of our feet. When he left, we had a moment of serious eye contact and burst out laughing, horrified, yet amazed at the life that existed outside of the camp boundaries. We resumed walking towards my house; feeling Nico shake in fear, I stopped him once again, placed my hands on his shoulders and said, "Hey angel, everything's going to be fine. Mum will love you, you're pretty hard not to like, you know?"

"O-Ok, erm, how do I address her? You know, a lot has changed since the 1900s, do I call her Mum, Mrs Solace, Will's Mum, Ms Solace-"

"Naomi," I interrupted, "You can call her Naomi, don't worry, as I said, Mum is going to love you."

We finally reached the door, after five solid minutes of consoling Nico, who was practically trembling beside me, I knocked on the door and smiled as I heard my mum walk down the hallway. I pecked his lips quickly and whispered consolation in his ear, and let go of his hand just as the door opened, and the wide grin of my mum greeted me after what had seemed like years.

"William Andrew Solace, as I live and breathe. I thought you would have forgotten about me, ignoring your mother for all these years, come here, sugar pie," my mum droned, in her thick southern accent, reaching out to envelop me in her extremely fragrant embrace, and squeeze my cheeks to within an inch of their life. Nico snorted and covered his mouth with his hand, disguising his laughter as a suspicious cough.

"Ok mum, I'm glad to see you too, but you're cutting off circulation to my cheeks, plus you're embarrassing me in front of Nico."

"Oh William, you didn't introduce me to your friend here, Nico, is it?"

Nico nodded sheepishly. He extended his hand, took my mum's and kissed it, "Pleased to meet you ma'am."

"Oh my! He's a charmer, ain't he William, he must have all the ladies swooning after him."

"Ok, Mum, have you been drinking?" I asked, knowing her to pick up a bottle in her darker moments, especially when she was alone. I could smell the bourbon on her breath. Oh no.

"Aw William, baby, it's just gone noon, of course I've been drinking," she winked at Nico, who nodded at me with a look of concern, is she ok? I nodded back, and gripped my mother's hand to steady her and we made our way inside the house, dragging the cases with us. When she wasn't looking, I squeezed his hand. Everything will be fine, I promise.

We first went upstairs to deposit our belongings in the bedroom, where we realised we would be sharing a bed. I had been aware of this prior to our visit, I just didn't let it fully sink in. Sure, I liked him, like a lot, but sharing a bed? That's like taking your driver's test in a bus...

"Are we-" Nico asked. 

"Yea-" I replied, "I think we-"

"Shall we go downstairs...?"

"Oh Gods yes."

We gave her a few hours to sober up while she prepared dinner, even though I insisted that I do it. For that time, it was only me and Nico in the living room, Nico answering the random questions about his life when she would pop back into the room quickly. I was astonished at the speed at which he came up with lies about his life, I mean I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. When Nico panicked and said he had a girlfriend, my mother seemed satisfied, winked at him, (to both of our displeasures) and left him alone until dinner came. 

As we sat down at the table, my mother proceeded to recite grace. She gripped both of our palms in hers and said a prayer. Nico seemed to know this gesture all too well, as he was silently reciting the Bible verse as my mother dictated it. With his palm clenched in mine, I traced a small heart on his hand. Thank you. When we had finally finished I tutted at the food my mum had made. 

"Mum, I do not mean to sound ungrateful but would it kill you to make sure this table sees a salad at least once in its lifetime?" I glared pointedly at the burgers and fried chicken that surrounded us, in great mountains of sodium, gluten and fat. Nico snorted, and grabbed his fork, and while staring directly at me, ravaged and attacked his food, gulping it down in great bites. I kicked him under the table. Cut it out. He smirked. 

Mum poured herself a glass of wine, that I tried to grab from her, but she snapped back at me with a, "Now, William, who's the adult?" I gave up. 

After a couple of glasses and polite dinner conversation, she shifted her gaze to Nico. "So tell me about this girlfriend of yours, Nico."

A small expression of panic crossed Nico's face as he opened his mouth to speak.

"He-She, SHE is amazing, I really like hi-her. She's beautiful, kind, loving. She keeps me sane, she's supportive, brilliant. I am so lucky to have her."

"Ooh, you hear that, William, it's time for you to meet someone... Is she a you-type kid or a regular kid? What's her name?"

"Will-Willow. She's a demigod, yes, a son-daughter of Demeter. She has blonde hair, that almost glows, blue eyes, like the sea just after a storm. She's the best thing that ever happened to me," he was looking at me throughout the entirety of this speech, and he smiled lovingly at me. My foot caught his under the table. I mouthed 'Willow?" slightly incredulously. He rolled his eyes: Shut up, Solace. I blew him a kiss, unable to resist how cute he looked. Unfortunately, my mum picked up on this action and put down her burger. 

"Care to tell me what's going on, boys?" even when blindly drunk, my mum was no fool. 

I looked at Nico, then back at mum, with the air of a man about to enter a pit of snakes.

"Mum. I need you to calm down. I would have ideally liked to have done this when you were not drunk out of your mind, but I am done hiding this from you."

She gulped her wine nervously. Nico stood and glared at me, concern in his eyes. "Will, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Something I should have done a long time ago," I shifted my focus back to my mum who was glancing nervously at the both of us. "Mum, I'm gay. I don't like girls in the way straight people do. I feel attracted to guys, not girls, l-like Nico. Nic-Nico, is my boyfriend." He made his way over to my side of the table, kissed my cheek and wrapped me in a hug. He gripped my hand and whispered in my ear, "I'm so proud of you, Sunshine."

Gods, I was so lucky to have him. 

My mother's face grew angry, her fists clenched around her cutlery. 

Oh crap.


	13. I would consider myself lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's blatant homophobia in this chapter

NICO POV

"William Andrew Solace. What did you just say to me?"

Will shrugged me off and squared off to face his mother, his tone strong but wavering, "I- I said that I'm gay. And Nico is my boyfriend."

I thought that Will might have ended his statement with something slightly more bold, but clearly he was afraid of his mother. Were all parents like that these days? The little that I remembered of my mother was joyful. 

Naomi whipped around to face me. "This is your fault," she pointed accusatorily, her trembling fingers inches away from my face. I flinched as if she were about to slap me. 

"You," she muttered, "YOU. YOU did this to my son. Have you no shame? You infected him with your, your g-gayness. You turned my son from a perfect little boy, to-" she poked Will in the ribs, hard, "This."  
I faced her. "Ma'am, I assure you, there is nothing abnormal about being gay. In fact a large percentage of the population is coming out now. It's nothing to be ashamed of, or scared of. It's okay. Will is still, well, Will. He's still your son and you can still love him, just as you did before. Just as much as I do."   
"Don't talk to me. I don't know what you've done to my son, but you are no longer welcome here anymore," she turned to Will, "Hey, baby, we can figure this out, I know this is just a phase and we can get you help. I know a person at Church who helps people like you, who've strayed from the path. He can help make you normal again."

"Normal?" Will repeated. "Normal? I'm not normal? May I remind you, that I'm not the one drowning my life in Bourbon. I'm not the one who refused to give proper care to her son after her boyfriend ditched her. I'm not the bloody one who suggested conversion torture, and tried to kick my boyfriend out of the house. So don't talk to me about normal, because you, my dear mother, are in no position to judge."

I clasped Will's hand, brushing my thumb on his knuckles. "Calm down."

Ms Solace fumbled for the steak knife, gripping it with shaking hands. "Get. The fuck. Away. From my son. " As nonchalantly as one possibly could be with a knife pointed at them, I dissolved it into shadow, almost tempted to make Ms Solace go with it. She stared at me, dumbfounded. When there was no more cutlery to grab, she reached out and struck me. Will immediately restrained her, but he was met with a blow to the head, causing blood to pour from his nose. I rushed to his side and held a tissue against nose. No one touches my Sunshine.

"Ma'am, let go of Will. LET GO OF WILL," I roared. "NOW."

I felt the ground crack beneath beneath me, and from it rose a skeletal hellhound. We had a brief moment of eye contact, my orders crystal clear. Finish her. The hellhound bound towards Naomi, Will immediately obscuring the path. "Nico, NO."

How could he do this? After that woman had caused him such pain? The fire in my eyes died as I saw the pain in his. Will immediately scanned Ms Solace for any injuries, a habit that was both endearing and infuriating , but his mother pushed him away, spitting, "I don't want any help from you."

"Get out of my house," she screeched. 

"Mum, we can revisit this another time, when maybe you're able to handle yourself better. It doesn't have to end this way."

"GET OUT NOW." She pushed us both towards the door, giving us 5 seconds to collect our things from the bedroom, where she was watching us the entire time. 

Will practically leapt out of the front door, without saying a word to his mother but a solemn, "Goodbye."

I stared at her. "My mother died when I was a child. If she were you, I would consider myself lucky that she was gone."

We turned our heads and made our way back across the street, ignoring the suspicious gazes of those who surrounded us. I cloaked us in shadow once again and we reappeared a few streets away. 

We stopped in front of what appeared to me to be a nice-enough looking restaurant. Italian, it seemed. "It's a nice offer, Nico," Will told me, a smile on his face that looked far too forced, "But I really can't stomach anything right now. Plus, I think my head is still bleeding. Wouldn't want to get any blood on the fancy napkins now, would we?"

"Okay Sunshine, let's get you someplace safe."

"NO HOSPITAL."

"What? Why-"

"I SAID NO HOSPITAL."

"No hospital it is, but please enlighten me as to why?"

"I just- I haven't been there since-" He broke off. 

"Where do we go instead?" I said. I didn't want to put him under any pressurising situation. A small smile played around his face. "The woods."


	14. Sunrise, Sunset

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have some fluff after that!

NICO POV

The woods? The only woods I had been in were the Camp Half Blood woods, and I have to say, I would rather not relive those instances. Will dragged me along, for what seemed like miles, until we reached a clearing, in some obsolete location. I had no clue where we were, or how we made our way there, but it was....enchanting.

Will made his way over to a tree stump and proceeded to sit down on it, before I rammed into him and caused him to stumble onto the floor, laughing hysterically. 

"Oops! I guess you fell for me," I get out between laughs. 

"Oh? It seems that you have got game after all, Di Angelo..."

I made my way to the floor to lie beside him. I swept up his palm in mine and interlocked our fingers. "Yeah, Solace, I've got game you can only dream of."

"Is that so?" he brought his face closer to mine, teasingly brushing our noses together. I turned to face him, and his foot brushed mine, until there was not even an inch of space between us, my skin tingling with delight, and when our lips connected, skeletal butterflies rose within me and soared, because, in that moment, I could truly say, that I was falling in love with William Solace. My Sunshine. His lips lingered on mine in a small smile as he brought his hand to my neck, and pulling away, he whispered in my ear, "Did you cut my phrenic nerve, because, Angel, you take my breath away."

I was on the cusp of bursting out laughing, or slapping him for ruining the peace of the moment he had just destroyed with his endearing, yet brilliantly infuriating comment. It looked like it was 1:1. Time to bring the game home. 

"Oh yeah? If you're having so much trouble breathing, maybe I should give you mouth to mouth resuscitation to make sure your oxygen levels return to normal."

"I think that's a brilliant idea. Well done, Dr Di Angelo," he replied, smirking, leaning in once more.

When we finally pulled away, we were both gasping for breath. We turned to face the sky, and saw that stars had appeared. We lifted our legs up and wove them together, and held hands once more. I had never been this comfortable around a person, since, Bianca. We kept sneaking glances at each other, and snapping our gaze back to the sky when we thought the other might be peeking. This went on for an age, until Will muttered, "I still have more game than you."

"Yeah, really? Because that's mighty big talk from a guy whose flirting consisted of him saying," I made air quotes, "I just delivered a baby satyr, my hands are shaking, here hold them.."

Will face-palmed. "See, I was-it was-there was...I have trouble talking to cute guys."

"Ha! Di Angelo wins," I said, making a cone with my hands and blaring a victory fanfare. I nestled my head into his chest and listened to the beat of his heart, wrapping my arms around his neck, sliding my fingers into his soft hair.

"Okay, if that's what I have to say to get you to date me, I'll say that any day."

"Shut up, Sunshine, you're raining on my victory parade here."

I craned my neck up to smile up at him, sweet and genuine, and of course Solace ruined the moment, patting my head repeatedly, "Aww, baby Nico," he pointed at me, poking me gently, "BABY. BABY. BABY." 

"And you say you have trouble talking to supposedly cute guys."

"Yeah, but I never mentioned the drop-dead," with this he winked, "gorgeous ones."

"I will run you through with a sword if you say that again. Now, shut up Solace. I want to sleep."

I glanced at the tremendous pile of luggage that surrounded us, courtesy of Piper. Packing with her was, interesting, her process of piling all clothes she deemed suitable in a massive heap, was one that was truly...unique to say the least.

"Goodnight, baby Nico," Will cooed, pouting.

"I was going to ask if we could cuddle, but now..."

"OKAY I'M SORRY. PLEASE CUDDLE WITH ME, PLEASEEEEEE NICOOOOO.PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE."

He then gave me the cutest puppy dog eyes, ever to be seen, so I succumbed to his irresistible wishes and wrapped my arms around him, placing my head in the Nico shaped gap between his collarbone and jaw.

I blearily opened my eyes, when the sun rose, and found that Will, sitting cross legged on the tree stump, was watching me sleep. 

"Stalker."

"Hey, good morning, baby."

I made my way to him and wrapped my arms around his neck from behind him and rested my head on his shoulder, so that both of us were gazing at the mesmerising sunrise that lay before us, painting the dawn in the hazy shade of morning light. I kissed his cheek.

"Happy birthday, Sunshine,"


	15. Nobody told me Cheez Whiz was this disgusting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall just gotta macarena through the anxiety

WILL POV

"Sunshineee," Nico said, elongating the word to the point where it was annoying. "We have to get back to camp."

"I'm hungry, Nico," was all I said, unable to think of anything else.

"Hi hungry, I'm fricking freezing."

"Aww," I cooed, stepping closer to him. I booped him on the nose, "Is someone turning into a Nicosicle?"

"Shut up Solace, or I'll make sure you starve."

I stepped back, gasping dramatically, hand on my heart, "You do that, and I shall corrrrrrnobble thee with thy lingible fish."

Nico raised an eyebrow, "I ought to have you yerded for your blatant rhotacism, you whipjack."

I stepped back again in surprise.

"You just got 1930ed, that's what you get for being a drama king."

Now it's my turn to raise my eyebrows, "Are you calling me a king? Seriously, Nico?"

He turned pink, and then smiled. "Yes. You are a king. The King of all things starving and bratty."

"Rude. You know, for someone so cute, you have such an unbelievable attitude. Now shut up, and take me to camp. William needs his midday celery sticks, or he gets cranky."

"This was calm? Okay, let's go then."

He grabbed me by the arm, and willed our luggage to accompany us. Soon we were surrounded by a torm of darkness and my fears materialised right before my eyes. Everyone I had lost, the late nights, when I would wake up to find Nico crying in his sleep, my mother, trying to find happiness at the bottom of Bourbon bottles, telling me I was useless, driven blind by drunk rage. 

We appeared at what seemed to be a building, as different from camp as you could imagine. 

"Cheez Whiz," I read. "Angel, have you shadow travelled us to the wrong place again?"

I caught Nico, just as he collapsed in my arms. I picked him, lugged him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, rolled our luggage in one hand, and made my way into the foul-smelling dumpsite that was the Cheez Whiz factory. 

I placed him on what seemed to be a conveyor belt, it was the nearest thing I could find, and I'm not sure he was comfortable being dragged around. 

"Solace, I'm fine, okay?"

"Yeah, please, save it for when you don't look like death personified."

"Nice try, Sunshine, but I am death personified."

I was about to make a snide remark in response, but the conveyor belt switched on, and soon, Nico was lost to the overwhelming monstrosity that was Cheez Whiz

"NICO!!" I screamed, trying to follow the conveyor through the factory, guided by the sounds of his screams. This chasing went on for the best part of ten minutes, until I found him at the very end of the belt, drenched in Cheez Whiz, with a plastic bottle on his head. 

I was traumatised; Nico, however, seemed to be licking his hands like a cat. 

"I am never kissing you again, you disgusting Cheez Whiz monster."

"Hey, I'd take Cheez Whiz over annoying boyfriend any day."

He then walked up to me, and before I could move, wrapped me in a hug and pressed his lips to mine, filling my mouth with the rancid taste of processed cheese. "How's that for never kissing me again, huh?"

I laughed and kissed him again, I couldn't resist. "I hope you know how much you mean to me, I wouldn't swallow Cheez Whiz for anybody."

"Get over yourself, Sunshine," he said with a small smile. "Because sometimes..." he brought his hands in front of him, "You just gotta macarena through the anxiety," and with that he proceeded to perform the macarena, which I presume was courtesy of Perseus Jackson.

"Angel, you have to stop, someone could see, this factory is still in operation."

"Come on, dance with me."

"You know, when told the name Nico Di Angelo, I never pictured a Cheez Whiz...thing...doing the macarena in a factory."

He backed up and bumped his butt against mine. "DANCE, SOLACE," with that ludicrous statement, he gave me puppy eyes which really did not suit the tone of his voice. However, I joined in, and soon we were just two Cheez Whiz freaks, doing the macarena next to a conveyor belt.

Well into this...performance, an employee, no, the manager appeared. Watching us, slightly amused yet horrified. "Hello boys, you seem to be having some fun over there, mind if I kick you out now?"

My smile dimmed and as I looked over at Nico, he had summoned our luggage, and with a simple, "Viva la Pluto" we were off to Half Blood Hill within seconds. 

When we came back to reality, well back to Camp, we were immediately serenaded by Percy and Jason singing what appeared to be Single Ladies, in accordance with all the flashy dance moves. 

As soon as they saw us, they ran towards us, and then took a good few steps back after they saw our state. "What in the name of the gods happened to you?"

Nico murmured, "We went to see Will's mum but she was a massive homophobe who tried to stab me, so we went and celebrated Will's birthday in the woods, and then we woke up I accidentally shadow-travelled us to a Cheez Whiz factory where I got whisked on a conveyor belt, and Will was horrified, it was hilarious!" his tone slowed, "And then we did the macarena, covered in Cheez Whiz, because, I told Will that sometimes, you just gotta macarena through the anxiety. And then the manager may have caught us."

Percy seemed to tear up as he grabbed the side of the gate. "I've taught you well, there is no better feeling in the world than seeing you grow into the wonderful Sassico you are, but are you okay?" He immediately scanned my arms for any visible cuts and calmed down slightly when there appeared to be no new ones.

"THANKS A LOT, IDIOT," came the cry of Annabeth from what I assumed to be a few metres away. 

Percy stepped away, and scrutinized Will. "Why are you covered in Cheez Whiz, William, I though Nico was the one who got whisked away? Is there something I should know?" with this, he waggled his eyebrows and winked at me, and then turned back to face Will, deadly serious. 

"Gods no! Really, NO! Come on man, we were in a Cheez Whiz factory for gods' sake!" Will replied, extremely defensively.

Jason brought out a notebook. Oh no. "I was working on a lil' something when you were off dancing in Cheez Whiz.

It goes:

There once was a boy called Nico,

Who lived a life of no light.

Until he met a shining star, 

Who lit his sky so bright.

There once was a boy named Will,

Whose heart could not take any more pain.

And then he met his saving grace *(with this he winked)*

I could not find a line to follow this, believe me, I racked my brain."

With this I grabbed Nico's hand, and squeezed it tight, the Cheez Whiz seeping out from between our interlocked fingers. I kissed him softly. 

Jason squealed, followed by Percy. "YES!" they screamed."OTP!!"

"OTP?" Nico asked quizzically. 

"It means One True Pairing."

He brought his hands to my neck, and brought his face close to mine."You truly are my only Sunshine."


	16. Dreams: dreadfully temporary, forever heartbreaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry yall

WILL POV

As soon as we got cleaned up (I would prefer not to indulge in the details) Chiron called us to the Big House. This had never happened before, apart from when a patient of mine had passed, and I was growing more nervous by the second. I gripped Nico's hand as we made our way to the rec room, Chiron's serious, yet melancholy expression, driving my mind to the worst possible scenario. 

"Boys. Please sit," Chiron's voice ordered, quiet, yet unbelievably dangerous. "I am sorry to inform you that on orders of your mother, you two are not to be in contact any longer: if William wishes to remain a resident of Camp Half-Blood. I know this is much for you to process, as your relationship is extremely premature in nature, and if you need a short period of time to process this information and make your final decision, you are entitled to that."

"Wait," I whispered, trying to process the information that had been thrown at me. "My mum says, that if I don't stay away from Nico, she's going to revoke my residency at camp?"

"I am afraid that is exactly what I'm saying," Chiron replied, looking down at his hooves.

I looked over at Nico, who had been silently watching at this point. I swept up his hands and tilted his face towards mine. "Hey, it'll be okay, Angel. We'll figure this out."

He brought his head to rest on my chest, his tears dampening my shirt. "Please don't leave me. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Hey darlin', I ain't going anywhere," I kissed the top of his head, and we turned to face Chiron, our eyes brimming with hopeful tears, who was smiling sorrowfully. 

"As much as I would love to see your relationship grow, gods know that you both deserve happiness in your lives, I have no legal control over your care, your mother does have legal responsibility for you, and her wishes, I'm afraid, are my orders. William, I am sorry to tell you, that as the head counsellor of the Apollo cabin we cannot let you travel back to Texas until the end of a month, as a means of sorting out your belongings and dividing your responsibilities. Your mother has informed me that she has ordered me to recruit the services of Cupid to do her bidding and surveil you until she is sure that you two are going your separate ways."

"This can't be happening," I said. "No." 

"I am sorry William, but those are your mother's orders." 

"Look, I'm sure we can figure this out, just put me in touch with my mother."

"Again, I am truly apologetic, but she has made it abundantly clear that there is to be not communication between the two of you until you renounce your identity as gay."

My face dropped. My own mother was not going to speak to me, until I denounced my sexuality? What kind of person would do that? I was not going to leave. That was for sure. I could not leave Nico, my patients, my siblings. No.

"Nico, we can make this work, we can meet up secretly and just stay away from Cupid?"

Nico raged beside me. "NO. I am never, NEVER, letting that piece of merda near me again. You know what? I am done with this, I can't do this. I like you Will, more than anything, but I can't stay here if Cupid is going to be watching me. That figlio di puttana, has to stay where he belongs, THE HELL AWAY FROM ME." He wrenched his hand out of mine, and strode away, leaving Chiron and I both dumbfounded and heartbroken.

I quickly apologised to Chiron, and followed Nico to the Hades cabin, not before he slammed the door on me. 

I desperately tried to console him. "Nico, I'm sure we can work this out."

"No," his voice was shaky, threatening to spill into tears, "Just go. I can't do this to you, or myself."

"Nico," I banged on the door. "Nico, for gods' sake let me in!"

He opened the door tentatively. "I just can't, Will. That monster outed me, against my will, publicised my greatest shame. I cannot bear to even think of him. Now you're asking to me to let him watch over my life? I'm sorry, I can't."

"Publicised? It was one person, Nico," I spat. "So stop overreacting."

"You're telling me to stop overreacting, but who's the one who came banging on the door when I clearly wanted to be alone, because he clearly wanted to play the hero and swoop in and the save the day? I am not another one of your patients that you can play God to, ok? I am your boyfriend for fuck's sake, and I honestly can't imagine a future with you at the moment where either of us are happy! Cupid is a heartless bastard, okay? It's not my fault that you can't see that, but when he ruins your life too, and believe me, he will, don't come running to me for comfort, because I am not a shoulder to cry on."

"You're not a shoulder to cry on?" at this point I was scrutinising every word Nico was saying, in the hope of seeming like the rational one in this argument. "So what have I been all this time? Comforting you after a nightmare? What am I to you?"

"A dream, Will. And you know the shittiest thing about dreams? They never come true. Every minute with you has been a dream, and now it's time to wake up. This is the real world, Will. Open your eyes and see it."

"You know what, Nico? Fine. I'm tired of trying to convince you, trying to make you feel better about this situation Naomi's put us in. Don't you realise it's just as terrible for me as it is for you, but I'm not running away and making a scene out of it."

"Making a scene's the only way to get your attention. When I was in the infirmary and not having a nightmare or trying to kill myself you were never there for me, always with other people."

"Nico, I run a whole bloody infirmary full of demigods who needed my help, who would have died if it weren't for me, and you expected me to be at your beck and call at every minute?"

"I expected you to care. I expected you to care about a child who's gone through literal hell, at the same time as so much more. I thought you were the only one who cared, but I was betrayed. Those monsters, which told me to- to," he was struggling to get the words out, "To kill myself, they were all telling me that I wasn't loved, that I would be alone forever. You must have noticed, that when we were together, the nightmares were almost non-existent, because I felt loved, for the first time in my life. I cared about you Will, and I thought you'd feel the same." He turned away from me. 

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to this, so I mumbled, "I have some patients that need checking up on, all I can say, is good luck."I realised later that was the worst thing to have said.

With that, I turned to the door. I exited the cabin and collapsed onto my knees, the tears flowing like the River Styx, endless, carrying people's lost dreams down to Tartarus, and excruciatingly painful.

"I will miss you, Angel."


	17. Did you expect me to play fair?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yes, i know they just broke up.  
> yes, i know that might have been sad.  
> yes, pain is still going to be delivered in this chapter :)))

NICO POV

I didn't come out of my cabin for an age. Time seemed to pass, limitlessly. Every second without Will, was a heartbreaking eternity. Time seemed to mock me. Jeering at me as it passed, taunting me as it ticked. He was my solace from the dark world I had submerged myself in, and without him, it was impossible to find the light. I was surrounded in a typhoon of anger, sorrow and agony. My heart ached with emptiness as I realised that I was alone once again. Because Nico Di Angelo always walks alone. 

Piper, Percy and Jason had altogether given up on trying to extract me from my cabin. Alone. I didn't eat, drink or sleep for at least two days, at the end of which I drank a small glass of water. I could not let anyone see me like this, I could barely look at myself in the mirror. I berated myself, again and again. 'Look what he has reduced you to' my mind seemed to scream, a constant reminder of how dependent I was on others, how I was too weak to support even myself. How I was a helpless wreckage. 

Finally, after a week, sleep came to me like an unknown assailant; drowning me in a river of pain, stronger, much stronger, than the debilitating, burning water of the Acheron. 

I lost weight. Serious amounts. Until my body was nothing more than the lifeless husk of a person who had given up. I couldn't bring myself to manage food, every time I picked up the apples in my fruit bowl, I would wistfully think of the time we had shared, without a care in the world, and how it had all crumbled around me, like the lifeless body of my sister under the cruel grasp of Talos. 

Until one morning I woke up to find that another....being, had materialised in my cabin. 

He helped himself to an apple. "Nice to see you, Nico - or should I say 'baby' ?"

No. No. Not today. This couldn't be happening. 

"What the fuck do you want?"

"Oooh, someone started the day spewing profanity at a god, see I prefer to start with a nice cup of nectar and some Hephaestus TV, but you do you, baby."

"Stop calling me baby," I growled, looking up at Cupid for the first time. That was a terrible decision. Those sea-green eyes didn't make my heart flutter anymore. Nice try, Cupid. He smiled, a menacing leer that almost made me tremble, "Oops. Wrong appearance. Oh, dahling, you might want to look away, otherwise, you'll get blinded."

I followed Cupid's instruction, as much as I was losing my will to live, my reflexes didn't want me to die yet. "Did I mention," added Cupid, "I also like to start my day with some human tears?" He pushes a glass of water towards me. "Have some, it's full of vitamins and minerals."

"You know, we did have school in the 1930s. I know what water is."

He sighed dramatically, and perched himself on the edge of my bed, turning around to face me. Looking at me was the monster that haunted my nightmares, the one who broke my heart. "Cabrona," I muttered, too deprived of energy to declinate the noun. Swearing in Spanish was even more satisfying than in English or Italian, I was so glad Reyna had taught me. 

"Oooh, switching it up, are we? I always preferred the Italian, to be honest, but that just might be because this is my Roman form and all of that."

"No hablo inglés, motherfucker."

"Bueno intento, mi amigo, pero yo soy fluido en todos los idiomas."

At this point, I was at a loss for words. Instead, I just faceplanted onto my pillow, not really caring about suffocating, curling up into the foetal position, careful not to touch Cupid, I didn't want any of that disgusting....thing..on me. 

As if sensing my discomfort, Cupid leaned closer to me, "Aww, am i making the tiny weeny liddle baby angel uncomfortable?"

"Will-" I began, "No, Cupid. What are you doing. Haven't you tortured me enough?"

"Oh come now, my dear, one can never torture another too much."

"STOP IT. Stop it with the 'my darling' and 'baby' and 'angel', okay? I am sick of this. I will stay away from Will, but promise me that you will never set foot in here again. Because as much as I hate him for breaking my heart, I still care about him and I can't let you ruin his life too. So with all the respect that you deserve, FUCK OFF."

Cupid blinked for a second, seeming slightly shocked. In an instant, he regained his confident manner, drawling in Will's southern accent, the accent that had melted the path to my heart- SHUT UP-"Well, here has a lot of grey area. Do you mean here as in the cabin, or camp, or Long Island? And as for the whole setting foot issue, well," here he began to float just above the ground, "I think I've solved that issue." 

I glared at him, and reached for my sword, which Austin had the decency to return to me. Cupid flinched as I tilted the blade to rest under his jaw. 

"Awwww, are we scared, my dear?" 

"Nico, please, just get that monstrosity away from me."

"Oh, you pretend to be so much of a diva, but you are just a little wimp, aren't you, a wimpy wimp wimp wimp wimp-"

"SHUT UP, YOU INSOLENT DELINQUENT," Cupid roared, his eyes gleaming with angry flames. "You have no right to address me like that. NO RIGHT AT ALL. I COULD KILL YOU."

"Please do, I insist."

His flaming eyes dimmed as his malicious grin appeared once again. "Let's see how your little Sunshine will react to my presence, shall we?"

With that, he pulled up what seemed to be a surveillance tracker, on...Will. I saw him going about his life in the infirmary, chatting in his jovial manner to patients, laughing with his siblings. The guy I fell in love with, the person I couldn't do without, seemed to do better without me. 

"I think I can make an exception here. It would be oh so fun to make you watch."


	18. It's called an Angler Fish, dumbass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> have some more cupid   
> seriously though, cupid is so fun to write and we might see him again later :)

WILL POV 

It had been three weeks. Three weeks since I lost him. Lost him. I almost looked at it as if Nico had died; to be honest, it was easier to see it that way than remembering that he was so close, yet so far away. It was getting more difficult by the day, to keep up the facade that had been forced upon me. I knew that I couldn't let anyone, no one, see me for the emotional wreck I truly was, so I plastered a smile on my face, and went about my life, in a seemingly normal way, yet my heart ached, as every movement I made reminded me of Nico. Seeing the swords lined up at the entrance of the infirmary, a cruel reminder of the life that had nearly escaped my hands; the contraband McDonalds wrappers that the Hermes kids had snuck in, a flit back in time to the laughs we had shared. 

If I had known our time together would have been so short, I would have laughed more, smiled more, made the most of every moment with my angel. No, Nico. He would never be my angel ever again. 

I was cutting bandages, singing 'A Thousand Years' under my breath, picturing Nico's tear-stricken face, each note on the verge of a breakdown. No. I couldn't. Not in the infirmary. People needed my help, and I could not afford to compromise on their care, not after losing so many in the aftermath of the war. I turned around, to grab another roll of bandages, and saw Cupid staring back at me, the tragic remnants of my failed relationship confronting me. 

"Hey, Sunshine," he said. Damn, he had even perfected Nico's accent. I could not cry in the infirmary. Icouldnotcryintheinfirmaryicouldnotcryintheinfirmary. 

I cried in the infirmary. 

"Aww, come on, Sunshine. You could give your angel a run for his money." He conjured a glass of water, and offered it to me. "Human tears?"

I am sorry to say, but this comment slightly amused me. I looked up at him, a satirical smile on my face. 

"That's fucking water. I know my way around beverages, dumbass."

"Oh!" he feigned offence. "You both seem to enjoy spewing profanity at gods. You're not as insolent as I thought, William. But still as amusing as ever." 

He directed his attention to the sky. "WHY ARE YOU NOT GETTING THIS, HEPHAESTUS, SERIOUSLY, GONNA BACK DOWN BECAUSE HADES ORDERED YOU TO CANCEL THE CHANNEL? YOU'RE WEAKER THAN I THOUGHT. THIS IS COMEDY GOLD. COMEDY GOLD, I'M TELLING YOU. THIS IS BETTER THAN THAT CRAP WE WATCHED, HOW I MET YOUR MINOTAUR, WAS IT? HONESTLY, THIS IS GOLD. COMEDY FRICKIN GOLD. PURE GOLD. EVEN MINOS WOULD BE JEALOUS OF THIS."

I sank down onto the empty inspection table, trying to process what had just been said. Honestly, he had used the word 'Gold' so many times, the rest of the phrase got somewhat lost. My attention however, was drawn back to something he had said before his...outburst of sorts. Yeah...he had said, "You both." You both. Oh, schist. He had already visited Nico. 

"Whatever you've done to my ange-Nico. Whatever you've done, you will pay." I stalked closer to him, trying to be as menacing as possible while scooting forwards on an inspection table. 

"Oh, I almost forgot, honey, say hello to your little angel."

What? Nico?

"Hello Nico," announced Cupid, waving to a spot on the wall that, now that he had mentioned it, seemed to shimmer a bit. "How are you, dahling? Oh wait," he laughs, high-pitched and infuriating, "You can't reply, can you? Never mind. I hope you enjoy watching me talking to Sunshine over here."

"Don't. Call. Me. Sunshine." I growled, attempting to sound moderately scary Nico once told me that I looked like a penguin when I got angry, which brought on a fresh wave of tears. Why couldn't I stop crying? I was acting like a child, not a 15-year-old cabin counsellor, head of the infirmary. 

Cupid only sighed, if he cared about my sobbing, he didn't show it. "I have to say, I was unsure when your mother approached me, but honestly, I really am enjoying this."

I gripped the scissors even tighter in my hand, when an idea came to me. Hear me out. The God of love would most definitely have a fragile ego and a sense of self-worth tied to a perfect appearance. Nico may have had the advantage of fear on his side, but in that moment, I had better. Scissors. 

I wiped my tears away and took a step towards Cupid. "I'm sorry for screaming at you, I really shouldn't have."

"Yes, I agree, Sunshine, you shouldn't have."

I reached for his lapel and pulled his face towards mine. 

"Say goodbye."

And with that, I hacked off about 3 inches of his hair. His face wore an expression of almost comical shock and pure terror. I mimed flicking my hair, which only enraged Cupid further. 

"You did not just do that, you insolent little DELINQUENT. Do you know how long it took to style it like that? Like, 3 whole minutes! 3 whole minutes I could have spent, say, torturing you, or your darling Angel Fish."

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "First of all, 3 minutes shouldn't be much for an immortal. Second, it's a fricking Angler Fish. Third, well, I don't really have a third, but you get the point." I grinned at Cupid, having had another stroke of ingenuity. Wow, I was really on fire! "You know, I could send this hair off to Olympus-" I twiddled said hair in my hand, "I'm sure your dear old cuz Zeus would be overjoyed to see your progression dealing with some heartbroken teenage demigods."

"NO. No, do whatever you want, but don't give that hair to Zeus."

I shrug, "Okay, as long as you promise to fuck off and never bother us again. Oh, and tell my mum, she can go to Tartarsauce."

Cupid fervently made the promise and swore on the river Styx, before promptly fucking off.

My thoughts wandered to my mum. Gods, I was going to kill her. She couldn't do this to me. Her child. It was then that I realised I would have done anything to get Nico back. Anything. Including flipping off Cupid and running to his cabin.

**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoyed, please leave a kudos or comment, i really appreciate it!  
> also updates will be erratic :))


End file.
